Music + Culture

[HOMESPUN]

Can’t Fake the Funk

e Funky Butt Brass Band delivers twelve tracks of horn-driven party music with Onward

Written by CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

When the Funky Butt Brass Band, St. Louis’ longrunning New Orleans-inspired combo, celebrated the release of its latest album in late January, the mood at Off Broadway was effervescent; FBBB is a party band, after all. But you could be forgiven for thinking the show was a little subdued, at least by the band’s standards.

Coming right between two major holiday bookends — the band’s weekend-long Christmas shows at Delmar Hall and the upcoming Mardi Gras season — the release show for Onward didn’t have the pomp or production value of those high-profile gigs. But instead of playing its iterations of yuletide classics or second-line stompers, the band dug into its own compositions and a handful of reworked pop and rock cover songs.

“I’ll tell you a little secret,” trombonist Aaron Chandler says. “All the years we’ve done the Christmas shows, our first show back in regular rotation is usually pretty rough. By then it’s been a month since we’ve played together in a room; we’re usually about Christmas-ed out after those shows.”

Given that FBBB could keep busy with its high-profile holiday shows, corporate gigs and regular stops at the Broadway Oyster Bar, it’s a fair question to ask why the band wants to write and record its own material. As the group has settled into its second decade, Chandler sees these compositions and arrangements as integral to keeping the band active and interested.

“I think we’d be so stagnant that we would die off,” Chandler says. “When we get together to write songs, it helps us grow as individ

A bona fide St. Louis institution, the Funky Butt Brass Band isn’t content to rest on its laurels. | ERIC NEMENS

uals and a band.”

“Aaron came up with the title,” guitarist and singer Tim Halpin notes of Onward. “It reflects that sentiment of not resting on your laurels and not going through the motions. It also reflects the changes that have happened in the band.” Saxophonist Austin Cebulski recently left town for Colorado, so Bryan Fitz has sidled into his role; both horn players are on the recording, with Fitz adding baritone sax to Cebulski’s tenor leads. “He’s been a great fit; he slid into that chair without speed bumps at all,” Halpin says of Fitz. He says that the band has been lucky in finding new collaborators as the original line-up has shifted. “You find somebody and they bring a whole different perspective to what you’re doing. It’s all part of that musical growth and moving onward.”

Given that Funky Butt is a wellloved institution at this point, it is easy to forget that before its inception, St. Louis didn’t have a true New Orleans-style brass band. Halpin and drummer Ron Sikes used its experience in the more zydeco-flavored Gumbohead to spearhead the horn-heavy group. “When we started, New Orleans’ brass band music was our touchstone — our setlists leaned in that area,” Halpin says. “As we got to know one another and we brought our musical experience to the band, you’re doing P-Funk and James Brown and Prince. We just weren’t thinking that way at the beginning — it’s taken us to some pretty interesting places.” Some of the cover songs on Onward show both sides of that divide. Prince’s “Cream” gets reworked here, and Chandler notes that this arrangement recalls NOLA legend Professor Longhair. “It’s a little swampier. It’s a little more organic, more rootsy,” Chandler says.

The set-closing cover of Dr. John’s “Such a Night” is a more overt tribute to the band’s roots. “It really came out of Dr John’s passing,” Halpin says. “We really wanted to do it in tribute.”

Given the predominance of horns in Funky Butt — along with Chandler and Fitz, trumpeter Adam Hucke and sousaphonist Cody Henry round out the core sextet — Onward appropriately kicks off with a few brass-driven songs. Many were written by Henry and built up by the group.

“Cody is the unsung hero of this record,” Halpin says of Henry, who joined FBBB a few years back. “He brought a bunch of songs in from the get-go; he wasn’t pushy about it, but we had some ideas to flesh it out.”

And while most of the horn players contribute vocals, Halpin is the group’s de facto lead singer, if only by virtue of not having a mouthpiece to contend with. He notes that he was in “a little bit of a fallow period as a songwriter,” but his contribution “Elizabeth” is both a loving tribute to his wife and a more purely pop composition from a band with a jazz and soul pedigree. “I am fortunate enough to be married to a wonderful woman,” Halpin says of the song’s inspiration. “I wanted to try to put it down in a way that was sappy but not overly saccharine. It took a while to figure it out from the band perspective. I’ll be the first to admit that it doesn’t sound like a Funky Butt song.”

Chandler pipes in to note that the song’s atypical nature was what made it so appealing to the rest of the band. “It was an opportunity to grow and do something completely different,” the trombonist says.

Given that Mardi Gras celebrations take place this coming week, the Funky Butt Brass Band will be busy again. Its highest-profile gig is the Mayor’s Ball, but the rest of us plebeians can get down with the band at the Bootleg on Saturday night and at the Broadway Oyster Bar on Fat Tuesday.

One place you won’t find them is in Soulard amid the revelers on parade day. A few years’ worth of freezing temperatures, PortaPotty mishaps and traffic gridlocks have cured FBBB of that desire.

“There was a time when it was fun to get up at 7 a.m. and be stuck there,” Halpin says, “but there’s a time where that ceases to be enjoyable.” n

The Lou Queen

Rapper Shana B returns to the spotlight aer an accident broke her neck in six places

Written by YMANI WINCE

It’s a special skill to put on false eyelashes. It’s even more amazing if you can put on falsies with a full set of long acrylic nails. But Shana B has that covered. Today, the St. Louis rapper is wearing lashes that can only be described as plush and dreamlike; she’s got a big personality with even bigger blinks to match.

Shana’s eclectic sense of style is part Barbie doll, part Harley Quinn. It’s a fusion of pretty pinks, dainty fabrics and cutesy handbags that crosses into loud hair colors, punk platform shoes and Hot Topic’s best. And Shana wears it well. It’s a reflection of how she enjoys the uniqueness of fashion, while staying ahead of trends and constantly reinventing herself. It’s a mentality that has not only shaped her fashion influences, but her ethic as a musician and businesswoman.

“Over the years, my image has grown to be more wise, mature and professional,” she says. “I feel like I’ve influenced a lot of people here; every time I change, I make sure it’s something that only I’m doing. When it’s redone, you know where it came from.”

While Shana B is just 21, she’s been on the local rap scene for some time. Dating back to her teen years, Shana snuck into places like Cicero’s in the Delmar Loop, eager for a chance to perform in rap cyphers. She remembers being the only girl in a room filled with guys, but holding her spot better than most of them. It’s indicative of where rap is today. Shana is not a female rapper; she is a rapper.

“The image that’s been pushed in recent years has been a sexualraunchy type of look for hip-hop, and it hasn’t given rappers the chance to broaden the different genres of music,” she says. “It only opened the door for women promoting sexuality, versus women having lyrics or expressing pain and love.”

Shana B was le in a coma for two weeks aer getting into a car accident while leaving a nightclub with her friends. | VIA THE ARTIST

Pain is where Shana’s music took root in her early days. She experienced the loss of many friends due to violence, and her music was influenced by that pain. Shana admits her music is street. It’s not filled with overly sexual euphemisms about tricking men out of their money for Chanel boots, or letting the other girls know that Shana could have your man if she wants him. It’s unlike music coming from other women that have emerged in the mainstream, artists like the City Girls, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. Shana B is self-aggrandizing, letting her listeners know she’s not the one to sell herself out to succeed. She’s got the kind of self-awareness and assuredness that’s surprising for someone her age.

“I’ve failed so many times with business, to the point where I had no choice but to succeed,” Shana says. “I’ve wasted so much money doing stuff I had no business doing, paying people I had no business paying, so I had to learn from mistakes.”

Shana’s pain has taken a more physical form as well. Looking at the 21-year-old, it’s not apparent that she’s experienced health trauma of the dramatic kind. But last fall, Shana was seriously injured in a car accident while leaving a nightclub with her friends. She says she woke up in a hospital bed to the news she’d broken her neck in six places. She’d also been in a coma for almost two weeks. Miraculously, Shana was not paralyzed but wore a neck brace for several months and had to undergo major surgery. The doctor visits will continue frequently for

“ Now, I don’t even chase money or riches. I just want to reach people and show them it’s OK to be an outcast. I want longevity.”

a number of years, but it’s nothing short of a medical miracle that the rapper recovered from her injuries so quickly.

“I feel good,” Shana says. “I have aches and pains here and there, but nothing worse than when you lay on your side too long.”

With intensity, Shana’s fans are waiting to see what’s coming next. She’s reluctant to call her next music move a comeback since her accident, but it’s inevitably going to be seen as one. She may release more freestyles over popular instrumentals, but it’s unclear what the plan is just yet.

“My goals are still the same,” she says. “Now, I don’t even chase money or riches. I just want to reach people and show them it’s OK to be an outcast. I want longevity, and my goals have only broadened. Things started seeming less important and more mediocre after I went through this. It made me start taking better care of myself and loving myself.” Earlier this month, Shana was nominated for a SlumFest award for best female hip-hop artist. The title went to KVtheWriter, but Shana was in attendance at the ceremony and was brought on stage, where she was met with a sea of applause and admiration from attendees. With a reputation in the city as “Lou Queen,” Shana didn’t need the award to know she is loved and respected. Taking the mic, she talked about how blessed and grateful she was to be alive, and all she’d accomplished to that point. Some of those accomplishments include releasing music, being nominated and working with Netflix and Cardi B.

Yeah. About that: In November, RFT reported that local artist Nikee Turbo was a contestant on Netflix’s first season of rap competition Rhythm and Flow. According to Shana, both she and Nikee made it through the Chicago round of auditions. On television, it appears that Nikee was the lone St. Louis contestant.

“So let me explain. This is how TV works,” Shana says, scooting her seat closer. Her recollection of the Netflix experience mirrors that of Nikee Turbo. She was contacted by a talent scout, flew to Chicago and auditioned. In Chicago, Shana was told by the judges that she made it. Then a producer from the show came into the room where contestants were waiting and essentially let everyone know that too many people had been chosen to move on. Shana was cut. Nikee Turbo moved on. She was told she’d be on the second season.

“They’ll probably hit me up for season two, but I’m gonna be bigger than that by then,” she says with a smile. “I’ve had my share, and that was God trying to tell me, ‘You don’t need this show, girl.’ God has other plans for me to be successful than being on a rap show.” It’s clear Shana B is on a path to reaching the success and longevity she longs for. In 2019, she released her debut project, aptly named Barley Quinn, that follows a history of mixtapes and performances. She continues to remain conscious of what her fans want, while being hypervigilant in what she wants from herself. Her experience last fall didn’t change who Shana is to the core: a selfaware, humble and hardworking woman. That, and a young woman who wants to make music and look good doing it.

“Can you take my picture?” she asks, handing over her iPhone. “Tell me where I should stand. How’s this look?” n

On the Record

Takashima Records, a vinyl listening room and bar, opens this week

Written by LIZ MILLER

Fans of craft cocktails and vinyl have a new destination that combines both interests under one very stylish roof.

On Thursday, vinyl listening room and lounge Takashima Records (4095 Chouteau Avenue) will debut in the Grove. Located inside the Chroma building at the intersection of Chouteau Avenue and South Sarah Street, Takashima Records is the brainchild of owner Sean Baltzell and the ownership team at Parlor (4170 Manchester Avenue, 314-833-4999). (Baltzell also owns Tower Classic Tattoos in the neighborhood.)

Baltzell, who was first inspired to open Takashima Records after an extended trip to Japan during which he visited listening bars, says vinyl records and appreciating music is at the heart of the concept.

“What we found when we were in Tokyo were these places where within moments a record would be argued about — who is the artist, is it sampled — and that was really cool,” Baltzell says. “But until it’s put in front of you in this way, you just hear background music at a place. We’ll have bios printed out every night [at Takashima] of the person spinning inside the menu; we want that to be a conversation piece as much as the cocktails or the vibe or the ambiance of the space.” Takashima’s bar program will be led by Tai Nalewajkó, who has worked as bar manager at the Blue Ocean in University City for the past two years. Nalewajkó is one of 100 certified sh”ch” advisers in the U.S. through the Sake School of America and is also certified with the Sake Services Institute International.

Nalewajkó says customers can expect a large sake menu, a rotating cocktail list featuring ten to twelve drinks, beer, wine and a few N/A cocktails as well.

“I have some [cocktails] with tequila; I have a few with whiskey,” Nalewajkó says. “It’s a very American, modern cocktail menu, but I’m bringing in ingredients that people don’t necessarily know about and introducing them in a way that they’d know.”

He adds, “Drinking is a huge part of Asian culture, especially in Japan. A lot of the food is familiar, but bringing those flavors [in drinks] and that tradition over here is foreign to [Americans]. Everything I’ve been doing over the past couple of years has pushed me this way, so us link

Takashima music director Paul Fullerton takes the bar’s DJ booth for a spin. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS

ing up and doing this together is kind of serendipity.”

Takashima will serve food, too, but the menu has changed since plans were first announced. The business partners are now collaborating with chef Chris Krzysik of Indo (and formerly Louie, Central Table Food Hall and Blood & Sand), as well as consulting chef Steven Pursley of Ramen x Rui.

Krzysik lived in Japan briefly in his youth, and the flavors he experienced there never left him. He recalls paging through Japanese cookbooks in high school, experimenting with making miso soup at home and dreaming of bringing Japanese pubstyle fare to St. Louis in recent years.

“People are coming to [Takashima] to hear the rare grooves that we’re spinning, to get the feel of the high-fidelity speakers, the beautiful ambiance and the cocktails,” Krzysik says. “So to me, the food is just that cherry on top; it keeps you around for the next record. It’s shareable plates with a very casual vibe.”

Krzysik says he wants to serve approachable and simple Japanese bar eats that pack a lot of flavor.

“The focus of the food is simple and elegant everyday Japanese food,” he says. “There’s definitely been leaps and bounds in recent years with Japanese food — people realize that it isn’t always expensive and it’s not just sushi and ramen.”

Manager and owner Matt Leach echoes Krzysik in that Takashima is equally a bar and vinyl listening room. For Leach, who has worked at Parlor for several years and previously DJed around town, Takashima combines his passions for hospitality and music.

“Music is my language; I just really connect with it,” Leach says. “I think what we’ll be focusing on is trying to provide a level of service that is not really seen in this neighborhood yet, per se. Attention to detail and educating people about everything in the space, whether it’s the records, wine, cocktails, beer — anything and everything.”

Vinyl is currently displayed on high shelves above the bar while a DJ booth connects the bar and seating along one wall. Paul Fullerton will be heading up the vinyl selection at Takashima; as music director and owner, Fullerton says that his goal is to showcase amazing local and national DJ talent while giving people the chance to share records that they love.

“We have an extensive vinyl library that’s all cataloged by artist, label, album, year and the country it’s from,” Fullerton says. “We’ve been having a lot of fun cataloging that data so we can have a searchable database for DJs who are coming in and they can pull stuff ahead of time. We really want to be a place that the vinyl community can come and all enjoy stuff together.”

Baltzell says that he and the Takashima crew have cultivated relationships with record-store owners around town and that they hope to partner with them on events throughout the year, including hosting quarterly vinyl pop-up markets outside the bar.

“We want to build a platform for that community as well as for people who just want to come in, have a drink and listen to good music,” Baltzell says.

“I think the tangible aspect of having a record and being able to learn about it and it being a physical thing as opposed to MP3s, I think we’re really trying to share that with all of our guests,” Fullerton adds. “We want to welcome people in, show them what’s playing, show them the liner notes — we all really love records and I think our role is really getting the customer to feel that.”

To complement the bar and listening room, Baltzell has also launched Takashima Records as a label. Headed up by Fullerton and Dan Hayden, record label CEO, the label plans to repress classic St. Louis R&B, soul, jazz and more.

Walking into the space, guests are first greeted at the hostess stand in a separate dining space. Baltzell says that these few tables will act as spillover seating for Takashima. “Captivating those people up front is really important for us,” Baltzell says. “We want this to be almost like a micro-bar, so while you’re waiting for a seat on a Friday night you can get a cocktail or two moving before you go back.”

As you move through the bar, you’ll see steps separating two stories: The groundfloor dining room and bar area and the second-story lounge and private event space. The DJ booth bridges the groundfloor seating area and bar, with six booths forged around shipping containers flanking the dining side and the large bar and vinyl shelves opposite them.

As the Takashima team gears up for its official debut this week, Baltzell says he’s excited to open the doors and offer a different kind of concept in the Grove. Ten years after opening Tower Classic Tattoos, he’s thrilled to see how the neighborhood has evolved — including this next chapter with Takashima.

“It’s wild,” Baltzell says. “It’s that gut feeling we had when we started Tower [Classic]; [the space] was all boarded up, but we knew this neighborhood had something to it.” n